Curiosity Rover Photographed Parachuting To Mars

Earlier this morning, NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity made a safe and intact landing onto the surface of Mars, inside the Gale crater next to a three-mile high mountain. The nearly one-ton rover completed a nine-month journey by acing the landing, making way for a two year expedition to determine whether the planet’s past included some traces of microbial life.

If all of that isn’t amazing enough for you, what if I told you that someone happened to grab a photo of the rover’s descent?

The highResoultion Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE)’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which spends its time snapping pictures of Mars 24/7, just released this incredible image of the Curiosity’s descent